In 2007, the Ilitch Charities College Scholarship Program was looking to solidify the merits it represented but was still considered to be in the early development stages.Regardless, the third year of the scholarship program saw a continued interest in higher education and high community involvement from the Little Caesars Hockey Club players.This fervor was especially evident in Emily Nelson, who as an outstanding candidate, proved that the Ilitch Charities College Scholarship Program was becoming significant within the hockey community.

Prior to becoming a scholarship recipient, Emily Nelson played for the Little Caesars AAA hockey program.During her time playing hockey, she took on an active role in her community and education.Emily participated in the annual AIDS walk and volunteered for the St. John Hospital.She recognized the importance of having a positive role model and became a mentor for girls in the WILLOW program. Through five years of hockey, Emily maintained a 4.0+ GPA and graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School.As a recipient of the $5,000 scholarship, Emily was planning to use this award to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan and play on the university’s club hockey team.When Ilitch Charities first met Emily, it was clear that she was going to be a rewarding recipient to follow through her future endeavors and very fittingly, she decided to exceed those expectations.

In 2011, Emily graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S.E in Materials Science and Engineering.During her time at the University of Michigan, she was listed on the 2007 Dean’s List, 2009 Dean’s List and won the Karl Schwartzwalder Memorial Scholarship in 2010.Throughout her college accolades, she pursued the merits of the Ilitch Charities College Scholarship Program by balancing academic and athletic achievements.For four seasons, Emily continued playing club hockey and was named Captain for 2009 to 2011.Her team won First Place in the CCWHA League Tournament three times and was named the ACHA 2nd Team All American twice.Her leadership contributed to being named an Assistant Captain to Team USA in the World University Games and University of Michigan’s Outstanding Female Athlete in Club Sports.

After graduating, Emily began working as a lab research assistant to study the mechanical behavior of shape memory alloy. Because of her previous successes, Ilitch Charities can proudly and confidently say that Emily Nelson has the drive to accomplish any goals she sets.